WHEN two masters of the craft of poetry, regardless of any social divides, juxtapose their brilliance, the end result is a distinct, breathtaking product.

Such can be said about the partnership of two veteran poets, John Eppel and Togara Muzanenhamo, who blended their creativity to compile a joint poetry anthology titled Textures, which was officially launched at the Book Café last week. The poetry anthology touches on a vast range of subjects from different places and befittingly , it was launched on May 21, World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.

Eppel uses parody and satire in his short poems to paint a vivid picture of life in Bulawayo where he grew up while Muzanenhamo's pieces delve in phenomenally unpacking life from different angles of the world.

Speaking to NewsDay on the sidelines of the launch, the award-winning Eppel said most of his pieces were inspired by the environment in which he lives and he is happy that they had easily blended with Muzanenhamo's work.

"I grew up in Bulawayo. I feel rooted to that part of the country and that is why most of my poems are centred on it," he said. "Togara is the most gifted young poet in this country and I am proud of him because I have never seen anyone who is at his level of creativity."

He said the title came from the Latin word "texere" which when translated means "to weave", which is what they had both done to come up with the book.

"We took a long time trying to find a title and Textures came as a result of realisation that we are both craftsmen who are interested in the structures of the poems and the content, so we managed to interweave our work into one thing," said Eppel.

Muzanenhamo said he was not worried about how readers would relate. He said there was always something to enjoy in each of his pieces.

The book has 43 poems - 27 of them Eppel's and the other 16 were penned by Togara Muzanenhamo.